Vehicle front structures are known in which left and right front side members extend in a vehicle front-rear direction, in which left and right extending portions extend inward in a vehicle width direction from intermediate portions of the left and right front side members, and in which a steering gear box extends between the left and right extending portions (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-56129).
Since the steering gear box extends between the left and right extending portions, the steering gear box functions as a cross member. Accordingly, the cross member can be omitted, and the weight of the vehicle can be reduced.
The steering gear box according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-56129 extends in the vehicle width direction along a dashboard. The dashboard separates an engine room and a vehicle cabin from each other. Accordingly, a power plant is located further toward the vehicle front end than the dashboard and the steering gear box.
The power plant is, for example, an engine-transmission unit in which an engine and a transmission are integrated together.
In the vehicle front structure according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-56129, the steering gear box is located further toward the vehicle rear end than the power plant. Therefore, when an impact load is applied to the vehicle front end, a movement of the power plant toward the vehicle rear end may be stopped by the steering gear box.
Thus, it is difficult to allow the power plant to move toward the vehicle rear end by a sufficient distance, and this makes it difficult to sufficiently absorb the impact load.